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    The moral quality of an action is determined instrumental... — Carmelics
    Home/Consequentialism
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The moral quality of an action is determined instrumentally, not intrinsically.

    Consequentialism
    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Actions that are wrong are wrong in virtue of their effects.
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    • 2.There is no particular kind of action that is intrinsically wrong.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Kant's categorical imperative demonstrates that some actions (e.g., lying, torture) are wrong regardless of consequences.
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    • 2.If an action's wrongness were purely instrumental, universalizable maxims would be impossible, yet rational agency demands them.
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    • 3.Moral obligations derived from rational form, not outcome, are prior to and independent of empirical effects.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Ross's prima facie duties (fidelity, non-maleficence) carry intrinsic moral weight not reducible to their causal consequences.
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    • 2.The wrongness of promise-breaking persists even in cases where breaking a promise produces marginally better outcomes.
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    Consequentialism

    Related

    Actions that are wrong are wrong in virtue of their effects.If an action's wrongness were purely instrumental, universalizable maxims would ...Kant's categorical imperative demonstrates that some actions (e.g., lying, tortu...Moral obligations derived from rational form, not outcome, are prior to and inde...
    +3 moreShow less
    Ross's prima facie duties (fidelity, non-maleficence) carry intrinsic moral weig...The wrongness of promise-breaking persists even in cases where breaking a promis...There is no particular kind of action that is intrinsically wrong.

    Similar

    In Buddhist ethics, moral merit is determined by the quality of intent...82%If an action is evaluated as a state of affairs in terms of moral good...82%The moral quality of a policy is determined by its effects.78%Nothing is good in itself apart from its consequences under an instrum...78%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: utilitarianism-history
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    Bentham's view was surprising to many at the time at least in part because he viewed the moral quality of an action to be determined instrumentally. It isn't so much that there is a particular kind of action that is intrinsically wrong; actions that are wrong are wrong simply in virtue of their effects, thus, instrumentally wrong. This cut against the view that there are some actions that by their very nature are just wrong, regardless of their effects. Some may be wrong because they are ‘unnat
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit